Toyota

Toyota Motors, Inc. is a Japanese automobile manufacturer founded in 1933. Toyota accounts for 78 percent of all the hybrid gas/electric cars sold in the United States. They are working to become the largest car-seller in the world, and in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, for the first time ever, Toyota sold more cars than General Motors. Toyota posted record revenues and profits in the third quarter of 2007. Toyota is, overall, the world’s largest automaker when measured by net worth, revenue and profits.

Company History
The Toyota story begins in the late 19th century, when Sakichi Toyoda invented Japan’s first power loom, which was to revolutionize the country’s textile industry. In January 1918, Sakichi founded the Toyoda Spinning & Weaving Company, and with the help of his son, Kiichiro Toyoda, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of building an automatic loom in 1924. Two years later, he established Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Like his father, Kiichiro was an innovator, and during his visits to Europe and the U.S. in the 1920s, he became deeply interested in the nascent automotive industry. Making the most of the £100,000 that Sakichi Toyoda received for selling the patent rights of his automatic loom, Kiichiro laid the foundations of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), which was established in 1937. From looms to cars, the Toyota experience has been shaped by extending the boundaries of manufacturing. To see a time line

Historical Financial Information
Toyota Motor Corporation SEC Filings

Business Strategy
Toyota’s approach to automobile production, with its inherent quality controls, revolutionized the industry. Its “just-in-time” supply-chain concept has become a model for manufacturers around the world, and not just for automakers. The Toyota Production System (TPS) calls for the end product to be “pulled” through the system. This means the right parts reach the assembly line at the right place, just as they are needed, and with no excess. This approach represented a radical departure from conventional manufacturing systems, which require large inventories in order to “push” as much product as possible through production lines, regardless of actual demand. The idea of TPS, the contrary, is to produce only the products required in the precise quantities desired at a given point in time.

Political and Public Influence
While Toyota has not made any campaign contributions in the U.S. In recent years, its political influence at home is far from insignificant, "Toyota's management think they are Japan - and there is a certain element of truth in that," said Ikiro Kume, professor of political science at Waseda University. Toyota's support of the liberal democratic party is credited with the party's electoral success in 2005. However, Toyota's main labor union, The Federation of All Toyota Workers Union, has challenged the appropriateness of the company's strong ties to the Japanese government.

Lobbying
Through its subsidiaries Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America & Toyota Motor Sales USA, the Toyota Motor Corporation spent over $4.1 million in lobbying expenses in the first three quarters of 2008. They hired a number of influential lobbying firms, including: Brown, Rudnick et al; Capitol Hill Consulting; National Environmental Strategies, & Decker, Garman et al. The issues that Toyota spent money attempting to influence ranged from: Labor, Antitrust & Workplace Issues; Environmental, Clean Air & Water, Energy & Nuclear Power; and Trade, Taxes, Banking, Copyright, Patent, & Trademark. The Automotive Industry as a whole spent $49.5 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2008, of which Toyota contributed nearly a tenth.

Corporate Accountability
Despite Toyota's attempts to present itself as a friendly and socially conscience company, the Motor Corporation engages questionable labor practices, and on the whole, its vehicles leave no less of a carbon footprint than other auto manufacturers. They engage in Union busting and the use of temporary workers on the Labor side of things, and have even lobbied against legislation designed to set 35mpg as a minimum fuel efficiency standard

Labor
Philippine Workers's struggles: Toyota Motor Philippine Corporation Workers Association (TMPCWA)was registered as an independent trade union of rank and file workers in 1998, and acquired the right of collective bargaining by winning the certification election.

However, Toyota Motor Philippine Coporation (TMPC) refused to negotiate with TMPCWA, although DOLE repeatedly made clear that TMPCWA has the right of collective bargaining. In February 2001, the Secretary of DOLE held an unusual public hearing, where 300 or more union members attended without the management's permission in their sense of emergency. When the Secretary of DOLE made the final ruling to confirm that the right of collective bargaining belonged to TMPCWA. On March 16 2001, TMPC dismissed large number of union members on the ground that they participated the hearing in violation of the company regulations. The number of dismissed workers was 233, more than half of the entire union membership.

The union went on a two-week-strike demanding the withdrawal of the dismissals. During the strike, Toyota put pressure on President Arroyo that Toyota may disinvest from Philippines unless the labour dispute was immediately resolved. Thus the labour dispute between the union and Toyota management became a political issue.

Eight years later, 97 dismissed workers remained as active union members together with 102 union members who are working in the factory currently. How are they so strong after so many years? Their tenacity is attributable to the firm unity of the union members, outstanding leadership and empowerment from their solidarity with labouring workers of the southern Tagalog, in addition to the cross-border spreading from Japan to the world was also a powerful engine of support for their struggle.

Human Rights
Despite Toyota's various attempts to appear as the "friendly" auto maker, there exists substantial evidence that the company is willing to allow the basic right of freedom slip to the wayside, purchasing from at least one supplier of pig iron known to purchase charcoal from a firm who employs slave labor. Upon inspection by Brazilian authorities of a labor camp from which the firm Usimar purchased their charcoal was the discovery of 22 people, including 3 children, living in squalor and receiving no pay whatsoever. This did not stop Toyota Tsusho America from purchasing 2 orders, totaling 25530 tons of pig iron from Usimar after the October publishing of the findings.

Environment
This section gives a Chinese-language summary of Toyota's environmental record:

丰田早在1963 年成立了生产环境委员会，1999 年在堤工厂实现了废弃物零填埋. 2006 年到2010年是丰田的环保生产计划的第4 期. 丰田计划，在第4期计划完成时，汽车生产环节CO2排放比1990 年减少30%. 为了实现这一目标，丰田分析了各道工序的能源消耗和配方情况，制定了有针对性的措施.

在喷涂工序，丰田引入小型机器人、采用了水性漆工艺并废除了2 道底漆烤炉；为了提高能源利用效率，丰田导入了高效热点联产技术，利用生产过程产生的余热来发电，这一举措可使CO2 排放减少15%；丰田在堤工厂建设了相当于500户独栋民房的太阳能发电板，每年能减排CO2740 吨.

Greenwashing
As a manufacturer of fuel-saving hybrid cars, Toyota has enjoyed an image as an environmentally responsible automobile manufacturer and ally in the fight against global warming. Toyota has worked to augment and further cultivate that image by running "green" television ads. An ad campaign that started in the fall of 2007 portrayed Toyota's Prius hybrid car as being built from grass and sticks and going back to the Earth as grass and sticks while an announcer says, "Can a car company grow in harmony with the environment? Why not? At Toyota, we're ... working toward cars with zero emissions.” In addition, Toyota's corporate Web site contains the following pro-environment message under a section titled "Our Environmental Commitment":

"Green. That's how we'd like the world to be. As an environmental leader, Toyota does more than meet industry standards —- we seek to raise them. With an unwavering commitment to environmental protection, Toyota strives to create clean and efficient products, and to conserve resources before our vehicles even hit the road."

On March 26, 2008, Toyota announced a partnership with the National Audubon Society to "fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders, and offer volunteer opportunities to significantly benefit the environment." Toyota touts a "Global Earth Charter ... to promote environmental responsibility for every aspect of our company and significantly reduce the impact our vehicles have on the planet."

In April 2008, Corporate Accountability International nominated Toyota to its "Corporate Hall of Shame" for actively lobbying to defeat a proposed bill to increase fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Toyota’s Washington, D.C. lobbyists justified the company's opposition by saying its engineers “don’t know how” to meet the standard, even though the company already makes cars that get 48 miles per gallon, and  also makes cars that meet even more rigorous mileage requirements in Japan. Toyota's fleet-wide fuel efficiency has actually decreased in the last two decades due to their increasing reliance on larger, gas guzzling vehicles like their 14 mile-per-gallon Tundra pickup truck. Toyota has also fought “clean cars” legislation in multiple states that would require cars emit less pollution, and that a percentage of cars sold within the state be low- or zero-emission vehicles.

Consumer Protection and Product Safety
The Toyota Motor Corporation offers a variety of consumer protection agreements when purchasing one of their new vehicles, they come in the form of 3 warranty packages agreed upon at the time of purchase. By all accounts, Toyota appears to back their factory warranties, sometimes after some time spant on the phone with a representative, but what they say they cover seems to be honored in full by the company. The problem occurs over and over with the dealerships doing what they can to release their obligation to Toyota Owners.

Anti-Trust and Tax Practices
From 1981 to 1984 Toyota was involved in several documented litigation proceedings regarding Anti-trust law, leading up to a 1984 proposed merger with GM which resulted in the filing of an Anti-trust suit by American automaker Chrysler.

Social Responsibility Initiatives
According to Toyota's own Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives link on their website top priority appears to lie with the environment. From touting their innovation in development of "plug in" and fuel cell varieties of hybrid vehicles, to their increasing use of "ecological plastic", and on to tree planting and their three point plan to increase sustainability. Toyota wants you to know that their all environment all the way. The Automotive giant is even awarding grant money expected to reach a sum of 200 million yen to 25 foundations that they feel have made some positive impact on the environment. That isn't the only money that Toyota is so eager to part with either, the global monolith plans to give 18 million yen to approximately 60 students out of Sichuan Province, part of Western China that was rocked by a major earthquake this past summer.These are just some of the ways that Toyota is giving back to the world that gives it a top share of the global market.

Business Scope
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TOYOTA) primarily conducts business in the automotive industry. Toyota also conducts business in the finance and other industries. Its business segments are automotive operations, financial services operations and all other operations. Its automotive operations include the design, manufacture, assembly and sale of passenger cars, minivans and trucks and related parts and accessories. Toyota's financial services business consists primarily of providing financing to dealers and their customers for the purchase or lease of Toyota vehicles. Its financial services also provide retail leasing through the purchase of lease contracts originated by Toyota dealers. Related to Toyota's automotive operations is its development of intelligent transport systems (ITS). ITS are a variety of information technology (IT)-based systems encompassing car multimedia systems, on-board intelligent systems, advanced transportation systems and transportation infrastructure and logistics systems. Toyota’s all other operations business segment includes the design and manufacture of prefabricated housing and information technology related businesses, including an e-commerce marketplace called Gazoo.com. Toyota sells its vehicles in more than 170 countries and regions. Toyota’s primary markets for its automobiles are Japan, North America, Europe, Asia and China. As of March 31, 2008, the Company had 292 Japanese subsidiaries and 238 overseas subsidiaries.
 * Hino Motors, Ltd
 * Toyota Credit Canada Inc
 * Toyota Finance Australia Ltd.
 * Toyota Kreditbank GmbH
 * Toyota Financial Services (UK) PLC
 * Toyota Motor Insurance Services, Inc
 * Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.
 * Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.
 * Toyoda Gosei North America Corporation
 * Toyota Financial Services Corporation
 * RouteOne LLC
 * Toyota Industries Corporation
 * BT Industries AB
 * Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited
 * Toyota Material Handling, USA, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited
 * Toyota Motor Credit Corporation
 * Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc.
 * Bodine Aluminum, Inc.
 * New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.
 * T A B C, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Italia S.p.A.
 * Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
 * Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
 * Lexus
 * Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd.

Financial Information
Ticker Symbol: 7203 (Japan) TM (overseas) Main Exchanges: Japan: Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo Overseas: New York, London Investor Website: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/ir/stock/outline.html

Largest Shareholders 

Regional Revenue Breakdown
Japan: Net revenues in Japan increased by 500.5 billion yen, or 3.4%, to 15,315.8 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007, while operating income decreased by 16.9 billion yen, or 1.2%, to 1,440.3 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007. The decrease in operating income was mainly due to an increase in expenses, partially offset by an increase in production volume and vehicle exports as well as cost reduction efforts. North America: Net revenues in North America increased by 393.5 billion yen, or 4.4%, to 9,423.2 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007, while operating income decreased by 144.3 billion yen, or 32.1%, to 305.3 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007. The decrease in operating income was mainly due to an increase in valuation losses on interest rate swaps by 66.7 billion yen stated at fair value by sales finance subsidiaries in accordance with FAS No. 133 (as amended by several guidance including FAS No.138). Europe: Net revenues in Europe increased by 451.3 billion yen, or 12.7%, to 3,993.4 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007, and operating income increased by 4.2 billion yen, or 3.0%, to 141.5 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007. Asia: Net revenues in Asia increased by 895.3 billion yen, or 40.2%, to 3,120.9 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007, and operating income increased by 138.8 billion yen, or 118.0%, to 256.4 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007. The increase in operating income was mainly due to increases in both production volume and vehicle units sold. Other (Central and South America, Oceania and Africa): Net revenues in other regions increased by 371.4 billion yen, or 19.3 %, to 2,294.1 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007, and operating income increased by 60.4 billion yen, or 72.4%, to 143.9 billion yen in FY2008 compared with FY2007. The increase in operating income was mainly due to increases in both production volume and vehicle units sold.

Board members/affiliations
Chairman and Representative Director: Fujio Cho Vice Chairman and Representative Director: Katsuhiro Nakagawa Vice Chairman and Representative Director: Kazuo Okamoto President and Representative Director: Katsuaki Watanabe Honorary Chairman: Shoichiro Toyoda Senior Advisor: Hiroshi Okuda Executive director/compensation Date and venue of next AGM

Contact
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. 19001 South Western Ave. Dept. WC11 Torrance, CA 90501 Phone: 800-331-4331 Fax: 310-468-7814